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Facebook Addresses Privacy 'Disclaimer' Hoax By Adam Dickter November 26, 2012 5:15PM     "There is a rumor circulating that Facebook is making a change related to ownership of users' information or the content they post to the site. This is false," Facebook said. "Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared."   Related Topics Privacy Facebook Social Network Snopes.com Latest News Oculus VR Gets Huge Funding Boost Huawei Phone Is a Quarter-Inch Thin Yahoo, Apple Disclose Data Requests Free Video Messaging Comes to Skype Prism's Secret: Bigger Data Seizure If you posted a supposed disclaimer on your Facebook Timeline this week to enhance your privacy rights, you're not alone. Throngs of people succumbed to worries about what Facebook might do with their pictures, statuses, comments and witticisms as the now-public company reformulates once again its privacy policies. Enough to get a reaction from Facebook officials. 'Hands Off' "Warning -- any person and/or institution and/or Agent and/or Agency of any governmental structure including but not limited to the United States Federal Government also using or monitoring/using this Web site or any of its associated Web sites," reads the disclaimer. "You do NOT have my permission to utilize any of my profile information nor any of the content contained herein including, but not limited to my photos, and/or the comments made about my photos or any other "picture" art posted on my profile." The legalese may have added authenticity to the message as it was cut and pasted from user to user Sunday and Monday, in the apparent belief that the message prevented Facebook from using the material outside of the social network . But according to the myth-busting Web site Snopes.com, the message is nearly identical to others that have appeared with similar warnings that trade on people's fear of "undesirable legal consequence." It noted that Facebook becoming a publicly traded company had no bearing on the privacy agreements previously in place, and the viral notice did not change the privacy agreement. The 1-billion-user-strong company on Monday felt compelled to issue a statement to address the matter on its Newsroom page under the heading Fact Check. "There is a rumor circulating that Facebook is making a change related to ownership of users' information or the content they post to the site. This is false. Anyone who uses Facebook owns and controls the content and information they post, as stated in our terms. They control how that content and information is shared. That is our policy, and it always has been." High Anxiety Participation in the viral hoax evidently was fueled by the announcement of pending additional changes in Facebook's privacy policies, including a proposed change to user feedback on policies that would "end the voting component of the process in favor of a system that leads to more meaningful feedback and engagement." Facebook is also expected to venture into selling ads that target users elsewhere on the Web based on data collected on Facebook, which could make some even more suspicious, if not paranoid. "As Facebook becomes a staple of everyday life for an increasing number of purposes, its users increasingly have strong feelings about every and any change or rumor of change," said Jules Polonetsky, co-director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington-based think tank and advocacy group supported by Facebook and other companies. "This particular issue has surfaced several years ago when Facebook updated its policies and generated posts like this. The canard has started circulating again because of Facebook's announcement of privacy policy changes several days ago. If you read Facebook's terms very carefully it says you own your data, subject to your privacy policy settings, and when you delete it they no longer have any control over it."   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Roland: Posted: 2012-11-28 @ 1:55pm PT @Trish: Right... We *theoretically* own our own data, but ultimately, FB controls it. Trish: Posted: 2012-11-28 @ 1:52pm PT So we own our data but FB has control over it (according to your last statement). Leisa: Posted: 2012-11-28 @ 11:23am PT Thank you for this clarifying statement. I'm certain it will help alleviate many anxieties. Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com

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Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Samsung Offers Tiny, Superfast PCIe SSDs for Ultrabooks Solid-state drives are continuing their march forward. On Monday, Samsung Electronics announced it has started to mass produce the first PCI-Express 3.0 SSDs for the new wave of Ultrabooks.   Amazon.com Joins 3D Printer Craze, Enabling Wide Availability Commercially available 3D printers have recently moved from being expensive hobbyist devices to being pricey but accessible consumer and manufacturing machines. And now, Amazon.com will sell 3D printers & supplies online.   New Facebook Data Center Uses All Home-Grown Servers Facebook has opened its new data center in Lulea, Sweden. The data center is a first in two ways: the first in Europe and the first to be equipped with all Facebook-designed, Open Compute servers.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

Why Google's Project Loon is Smart Business Google is once again proving that it's much more than a search engine or even a mobile-device company, with Project Loon. The initiative aims to bring "balloon-powered Internet" to isolated areas of the world.   Authorities Want Smartphone 'Kill Switch' To Fight Thefts Law enforcement authorities are calling on the smartphone industry to adopt "kill switch" technologies that would deter theft by squeezing the market for selling stolen devices, which would be worthless if "bricked."   Small Business Gets Boost from Mobile Marketing Aside from the requisite e-commerce tricks, small businesses are turning their attention to the mobile arena to engage social media-savvy customers, as mobile marketing tools offer more channels.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

New Facebook Data Center Uses All Home-Grown Servers Facebook has opened its new data center in Lulea, Sweden. The data center is a first in two ways: the first in Europe and the first to be equipped with all Facebook-designed, Open Compute servers.   Cisco Telecom Router Ready for Internet Traffic Flood The Carrier Routing System-X unveiled by Cisco for the telecommunications industry is a 400 Gbps per slot system that can be expanded to nearly 1 petabit per second, enough to deal with the coming flood in demand.   HP's IT in a Box Targets SMBs by Using Google Apps Hewlett-Packard is partnering with Google on HP SMB IT in a Box, which it bills as a "one-stop shop" solution for small and medium business customers. The move is likely to ruffle Microsoft's feathers.

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